28/4/2021 Averzion is a Physical Barrier for the Management of Scorpions and Other Pests

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Bed bugs have become increasingly resistant to certain classes of synthetic pesticides. Purdue University researchers have

uncovered mechanisms that make plant-based essential oils lethal for bed bugs especially in combination with synthetics,

offering new options for control of this pest.

Photo courtesy of Sudip Gaire

Purdue Research Shows How Essential Oils Restore

Insecticide Effectiveness Against Bed Bugs

Purdue University entomologist Ameya Gondhalekar and his former Ph.D. student, Sudip Gaire,
have discovered how essential oil compounds act on bed bug physiology and showed how
they can improve the lethality of pyrethroids.

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April 19, 2021

Posted by the PCT Staff (/author/12440)

Research (/news/category/Research)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —Bed bugs tuck themselves away into dark, unseen spaces and
multiply rapidly, making them difficult to control. That job has gotten even harder in recent
years as the pests have developed resistance to the insecticides long used to eradicate them
from homes, hotel rooms and other spaces.

Plant-based essential oils are generally lethal to bed bugs, but it’s been unclear how to use
them most effectively. Now, Purdue University entomologist Ameya Gondhalekar and his former
Ph.D. student, Sudip Gaire, have discovered how essential oil compounds act on bed bug
physiology and showed how they can improve the lethality of pyrethroids.

Their findings were published in two papers in the journal Pesticide Biochemistry and
Physiology — one released last year
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048357520301620?via%3Dihub)
and another out this March
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048357521000602?via%3Dihub).

“We’ve seen that we can kill resistant bed bugs with traditional pyrethroid insecticides, but we
have to use increasingly larger amounts. Applying them at those levels is a problem,” said
Gondhalekar, a research associate professor in entomology. “Our findings show that essential
oils can kill bed bugs, but the combination of essential oils and pyrethroid insecticides has a
synergistic effect.”

Gaire and Gondhalekar first tested the pyrethroid insecticide deltamethrin and a series of
essential oil compounds on non-resistant bed bugs and a resistant Knoxville strain of bed
bugs. A single dose of deltamethrin meant to kill 25% of bugs killed that many non-resistant
bed bugs, but it took 70,000 times more to kill 25% of the Knoxville strain.

“Deltamethrin is so ineffective in the Knoxville strain of bed bugs that if you’re using it in the
field even in large doses, you’ll get almost no control,” Gaire said.

The active ingredients in essential oils — thymol from thyme, carvacrol from oregano and
thyme, eugenol from clove, and others — worked equally against resistant and non-resistant
bugs. A dose meant to kill 25% killed that many of each type.

Gondhalekar said bugs’ nervous systems normally open and close sodium channels to pass
signals through neurons. Deltamethrin binds to those sodium channels and keeps them open
so that neurons cannot stop firing. That repeated firing quickly uses up the bug’s energy and
kills it.

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28/4/2021 Averzion is a Physical Barrier for the Management of Scorpions and Other Pests

But resistant bed bugs possess multiple mechanisms to resist pyrethroids, including
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overactive levels of an enzyme called cytochrome P450, which degrades deltamethrin. The
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essential oil compounds, Gaire and Gondhalekar reported, bind to and deactivate that enzyme
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and allow deltamethrin to do its job on the bed bug’s nervous system.

Gaire and Gondhalekar combined a single dose of deltamethrin with a single dose of essential
oil compounds that would be expected to kill 25 percent to 50 percent of the resistant bed
bugs. Instead, it killed more than 90 percent of the resistant bed bugs.

“When we treated the resistant Knoxville bed bugs with different essential oils and tested for
cytochrome P450, we found these enzymes were inhibited,” Gaire said. “The essential oil
compounds were able to neutralize those enzymes, allowing the deltamethrin to do its job.”

Gondhalekar’s lab will continue researching potential formulations of essential oils with
pyrethroid insecticides and test them in the lab and the field to maximize pest control. The
Purdue University AgSEED program, the Center for Urban and Industrial Pest Management
and the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship supported this research as a part of Gaire’s
dissertation.

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Averzion is a Physical Barrier for the Management of

Scorpions and Other Pests

Averzion is a new technology that uses a one-time, clear coat formula to stop scorpions and
other crawling pests from entering any structure, the manufacturer reports.

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April 19, 2021

Posted by the PCT Staff (/author/12440)

Suppliers (/news/category/Suppliers)

PHOENIX – Averzion (https://www.averzion.com/)is a new technology that uses a one-time, clear

coat formula to stop scorpions and other crawling pests from entering any structure, the
manufacturer reports.

The physical barrier, developed and made popular by Gilbert-based pest control company
Scorpion Repel, is now available to professional pest control companies nationwide. This
treatment will allow pest control companies to offer homeowners and business owners a
guaranteed option for completely eradicating scorpions and other crawling pests from their
buildings, Averzion reports.

The pesticide-free formula is applied to the base of a home or office’s exterior, hardening to
create a glasslike surface that pests, including the venomous bark scorpion, can no longer
climb due to the slickness. The clear coat application does not discolor the home or building
and is barely visible.

“For scorpions, we want to ensure Averzion is applied to every Arizona home, so no family has
to experience the stress of a scorpion sting,” said Averzion Co-Founder, Tony Gonzales. “After
my son was stung three times by a scorpion, nearly killing him and leading us to spend hours

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28/4/2021 Averzion is a Physical Barrier for the Management of Scorpions and Other Pests

in a hospital and pay thousands of dollars for medical treatment, I knew we had to find a way
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to prevent these circumstances from happening to others. Now, with more pest control
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companies offering Averzion, we’re confident we can help make families safer.”
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The physical barrier is comparable to other barrier techniques in affordability, while delivering
longer lasting and more effective results, the company reports. “We have tested and perfected
this product and are excited to make it accessible to homeowners nationwide through
Averzion," said the company’s other Co-Founder Aaron Gonzales. “I have experienced what it’s
like to struggle with a scorpion-infested home – from the venomous stings to the overpriced
treatments – and hope that with AVERZION no one else will have to go through that
experience again.”

Learn more at www.averzion.com (https://www.averzion.com/?) or on the company's Facebook

page ( https://www.facebook.com/AVZN95/).

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